St. Petersburg police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of committing two armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery within four hours a day earlier.

Steven Ellis Leacock, a 25-year-old man with no known address, was arrested in a string of incidents that started Monday afternoon.

The first incident occurred at 4:30 p.m., when witnesses reported that a man had tried to buy a pack of gum at a Family Dollar, 1628 18th Ave. S, with a credit card that was declined.

The man then threatened two clerks with a pocket knife and left with money from the cash register.

At 7:05 p.m., police said, the same man entered a convenience store at 1000 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, where he again wielded a knife. The clerk struggled with the man, who left the store with some lottery tickets and the clerk's cellphone.

About five minutes later, the same man tried to steal a woman's purse inside a Walgreens pharmacy, 875 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, but he was not successful and fled the store.

Leacock was identified Tuesday afternoon in the area of Round Lake Park and taken into custody.